The Ultra Nostalgic Sound of Blonde
In 2016, Frank Ocean's "Blonde" became an instant classic. In an era of unlimited access to new music, no playlist feels complete without a track from this album. The nostalgia that Frank Ocean creates in this album has embalmed it as the soundtrack for an entire generation.
To start on a personal note, I often think about what my children will ask me when talking about the chaotic decade in which my adolescence and young adulthood falls into. The first black president, progressive movements, technological breakthroughs, political unrest at an almost satirical level, a pandemic... and that's just what can fit in a sentence. Though one thing that can always very clearly take me to any moment in my life is music. I was fortunate enough to have just turned 16 when Frank Ocean's R&B classic "Blonde" was released. I truly don't know anybody that is around my age that doesn't come back to this album regularly. Whether it is late at night, a car drive with friends, a sulking Saturday night alone or just any moment one can find to put headphones in.
Frank Ocean is known in the industry and by his fans as a reclusive superstar. The man spends much of his time outside of the view of the media's lense, infamously only having a handful of interviews to his name. Yet his name spends most of its time getting warm in the limelight. The mystery around him and the years he goes without releasing any new music makes him one of the most speculated and mesmerizing figures in music. Heightened by the quality of the few commercial projects he has to his name. When he released “Blonde” in the fall of 2016, it had been several years since his last project, "Channel Orange" (a project that words could never do justice to describe). And between the two albums, very little was heard about his life and he was rarely seen. Yet “Blonde” would prove that Ocean had spent his time living a soundproof life, silent to anyone not close to him.
The central theme of his second album “Blonde,” appears to be life. Everything that is beautiful about living, even the things that aren't pleasant but still have beauty.
Had I been any younger than 16 when the album came out, I would be puzzled and almost nervous for the handful of years ahead of me. The songs that allude to experiences with drugs, late nights with friends at parties, physical intimacy, sexuality, and ballads to lovers of the past, present and the future. These were foreign to me before 16, as my toe had only dipped into these subjects Frank Ocean was pouring his heart into for tracks such as "Pink + White" and "Nikes". Had I been any older than 16, or even any older than 18, it would have been a bittersweet album to jump headfirst into, as it is to me now. An album that I would turn on late at night while a film reel of my teenage years played. Memories of first loves, a first kiss, parties, drives with friends where I would stick my head out of the window so that my long and carefree curls would fly in that crisp Midwestern wind. All the days and feelings that would be soon lost to time, unbeknownst to myself. “Blonde” is the most romanticized description of a teen life one could imagine. And not romanticized as in "ideal", "perfect" or honestly even specifically about those teen years, but romanticized as in it has all the words for everything in life that you can't find the words for when you were younger.
Frank Ocean forces the listener to confront their life and nothing is left spared. Lovers that were unjust, lovers that were kind and even the listener's own flaws (i.e. track one, "Nikes"). The nostalgia of this project is not entirely in the lyrics and their poetic description of life's simplest moments but also in the timelessness of its sound. His rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Close to You" as well as the powerful gospel background of "Godspeed" create a sound that is familiar yet cannot be recreated or found outside the album. One of the most unique features, which are a personal favorite of mine, are the songs that are simply talking, reminiscent of skits like those featured throughout Kanye West's "College Dropout" and "Late Registration". Tracks such as "Be Yourself" which is a voicemail monologue from Frank Ocean's own mother, "Facebook Story" which is a reflection of relationships in the information age spoken by Yung Lean and "Futura Free", which features recordings by a young Frank of his younger brother and friends. Depending on the listener, these tracks provide a peculiar experience. As they are the least played of the entire album according to Spotify, many will choose to skip over them. Yet those that do stay around, such as myself, cannot help but hear their own mother's voice or the voices of their friends in place of those recorded. Frank Ocean has a rare talent that is showcased in “Blonde”; he has the ability to instill emotion within the listener through the retelling of his own experiences. While his lyrics are specific to moments in his life, they are written in a way that when paired with his voice, are almost universally relatable.